>>blog, notes, markings<<

Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Yesterday was this blog's 11th birthday. I made my first post on October 6, 2004. You can read it here: Day one. Rereading that post now, I think that while some things here have changed quite a bit, other things haven't. I'm pleased to see that the trajectory of the initial vision has stayed fairly true. Thank you so much to the readers who have been here for many years, for those who are more recent, and for those who dip in and out, come and go. Cheers to readers! I wish I could pass you all a piece of birthday cake.

~~~

(As an experiment, going forward in this next year, I'm going to number the blog posts. This is number 649.)

~~~

[Photo: taken of an amazing blue door in the courtyard of one of my favorite little cafe and ice cream spots. A door means welcome; fitting for this post and this blog's initial beginning and now its start of another year.]

Friday, June 27, 2014

Just over a year ago, I closed this blog. About six months later I began to miss it and so started playing around with new blog options on other blog platforms. Now here I am back where I started, albeit with a small blog redesign. In part, it's a tribute to Typepad that I'm here again at the same site and not on another platform. More importantly, though, I'm back where I started because I missed the body of work that's been growing here, slowly, since 2004, and also the readers who know the way here.

For those of you who are here for the first time, here's a snapshot about me. By day I'm a freelance medical writer. After hours, which I'm loosely interpreting here as early mornings or late evenings or weekends or other cracks of random time, I do another kind of work: creative writing, spiritual writing, essaying. I don't think of it as a hobby I play around at, or a craft that I've mastered, but rather a spiritual vocation that I practice imperfectly. Just a couple weeks ago I signed a contract for a book manuscript I've been working on for a number of years and nearly two weeks ago my son and beautiful new daughter-in-law said "I do," so it's a good time for me to start something new even if it is by returning to something old.

I'll keep the same general pattern of posting a bit of an eclectic mix to this site but will try to add more process notes and thoughts arising from those creative after hours than I've done in the past. I hope you will find the posts here useful or enjoyable, and at times both. I hope they provide camaraderie for your own creative and spiritual life.

Please join the conversation in the comments section or by following me on Twitter.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

One year ago today I started this blog. For the first week or so I kept it private, wanting to make sure I really could write within a blog venue and also getting up my nerve to make it public. I still have to get up my nerve to some extent nearly every time I click "Publish now." Why would anyone really be interested in this? Have I said too much? Have I not said enough? Isn't this a bit on the boring side? This is hardly profound, you know. These are thoughts that go through my mind. Yet I've clicked the "Publish now" button 241 times and hopefully will continue to overcome the inner critic voices to post many more.

It's been a wonderful experience. Not only has it been more fun than I expected, but I've "met" so many great people. My sincere thanks to all of you who welcome this space onto your computer screen on a regular basis, to those of you who have left comments or written me kind and encouraging emails, and to those of you I'm now grateful to call friends.

Here is an excerpt from the very first post:

One of the deeper realities of life is that there is more to it than what we see on our to-do lists or the evening news. A significant part of moving through everyday life with joy and success is reminding ourselves of the abundant and amazing aspects of life, reminding ourselves of sources of strength, reminding ourselves of thoughts of a higher order. That's what I'd like to do in this blog. Remind you--and remind myself at the same time--of things we would do well to be reminded of.

I think this still reflects my intent for this space although some posts hit the mark better than others. If you'd like, you can read the rest of the first post here.

You're all invited back for posts 241+. Thank you again. :)

______

"...in a time lacking in truth and certainty and filled with anguish and despair, no woman should be shamefaced in attempting to give back to the world, through her work, a portion of its lost heart.”
--Louise Bogan

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Welcome to all of you who are immersed in everyday life, the common activities of caring for family and friends, working for an income, contributing to our communities. Conveniently, that opens quite wide the potential readership of this blog. That this blog is for those who are not only immersed in everyday life but also have a strong desire to keep their mind and soul strong and healthy may somewhat limit the potential readership, but not by much. After all, most of us want to move through life with joy and success and it is not hard to appreciate the role of thought and faith in this venture.

In my everyday life, I receive so much encouragement from quick e-mails I receive from friends at various times during the day. E-mails that include a quote, or a reminder of something to think about, or a challenge to think about or do something differently. E-mails that keep pulling me back from the frustrations of work or the overwhelmedness of another load of laundry and keep pushing me toward the deeper realities of life within the context of faith and within a community of friendship.

One of the deeper realities of life is that there is more to it than what we see on our to-do lists or the evening news. A significant part of moving through everyday life with joy and success is reminding ourselves of the abundant and amazing aspects of life, reminding ourselves of sources of strength, reminding ourselves of thoughts of a higher order. That's what I'd like to do in this blog. Remind you--and remind myself at the same time--of things we would do well to be reminded of. My messages to you will be in the form of quick personal thoughts, quotes, excerpts from my reading, and possibly some interviews with authors, as well as with everyday people like you and me.

Here are a couple relevant quotes:

"Certainly we cannot help thinking any more than we can help breathing, but, just as we can choose to breathe pure air in a pine wood on a high hill, we can place our mind where the images it will work upon will be of a higher nature." Ernest Dimnet from The Art of Thinking

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things." From the book of Philippians

Aiming at the intersections of thought, faith, imagination, and beauty in everyday life.

Established 2004

"Thou takest the pen – and the lines dance. Thou takest the flute – and the notes shimmer. Thou takes the brush – and the colors sing. So all things have meaning and beauty in that space beyond where Thou art. How, then, can I hold anything back from Thee."
–Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings

By day I'm a medical writer. After hours I do another kind of work. Creative writing, spiritual writing, essaying. This blog arises from those after hours. I write about work/vocation, meaning, hope, imagination, faith, science, creativity/writing, books, and anything else I feel the impulse to write about. I hope these short posts provide camaraderie for your own creative and spiritual life.